Mercury retrograde's effects are most frequently seen in social faux pas, broken phones, and forgotten keys, but this planetary transit can easily lay any sort of plans to waste. This is why astrologers will also warn against booking travel, giving a major presentation at work, or even making major changes to your appearance while the planet of communications is in retrograde. Even your best intentions and grandest ideas are not out of Mercury's reach.

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You might not be deeply invested in the longevity of your New Year's resolution, but you can bet that it'll be much harder to stick with it if you try starting it while under the influence of a retrograde. For example, if you found that your resolutions rapidly fell by the wayside last year, it may have been because most of January 2017 fell within a post-retrograde shadow period.

With Mercury direct this year, you should be able to execute your plans with relative ease. In fact, by mid-January, you should feel free to dream even bigger than you normally would with your resolutions. Don't just resolve to save more — aim for that promotion you've been dreaming of. Dust off those plans for the big remodel and start making the necessary calls. Get that tattoo, already.

Mercury won't enter retrograde again until March 2018, so use January and February to set your great ambitions in motion. By the time the next signal-scrambling transit comes along, you're resolutions will be unshakable. (Either that, or you'll have already decided that they aren't worth your time.)